Not Applicable.
In the process of shipping an article from one location to another, the article is typically placed in a container along with the protective packaging material to fill the voids about the article to cushion the article during the shipping process. One common protective packaging material is comprised of a plurality of plastic foam, peanut shaped members which are commonly known as xe2x80x9cstyrofoam peanutsxe2x80x9d. An advantage in using styrofoam peanuts is the ease with which they may be disposed about articles positioned in a container by simply pouring the styrofoam peanuts from a dispenser.
However, while styrofoam peanuts have been widely accepted in the packaging industry, they are not without disadvantages. For example, the light weight and flowability of the styrofoam peanuts results in heavier objects gravitating through the peanuts to the bottom of the container where the object can be damaged. Also, while the flowability of the styrofoam peanuts facilitates the introduction of the peanuts in the container, the receiver of the package is left with having to deal with the peanuts upon removal of the article from the container in the form of having to clean up the mess left by the peanuts which are easily scattered upon removal of the article from the container.
These and other disadvantages associated with the disposal of styrofoam peanuts has made paper protective packaging material a popular alternative. Paper is biodegradable, recyclable and renewable, making it an environmentally responsible choice. However, like styrofoam peanuts, paper packaging materials are not without disadvantages in that paper, particularly shredded paper, can be inconvenient to clean up and to dispose of due to the lack of cohesiveness of the packaging material. In addition, due to the lack of resiliency in paper products, large amounts of paper are typically required to provide the bulk needed to adequately cushion an object.
Strips of sheet material formed into tufts have also been used for many years as a packaging material. More specifically, material known as decorative grass has been used in fruit baskets, easter baskets, picnic baskets and for other packaging and decorative purposes. A decorative grass of the prior art has been produced by numerous methods and from a variety of materials such as polymeric a materials, paper, cellophane or the like. Typically, such materials are cut and shredded to produce segments having predetermined dimensions. As such, the decorative grass, styrofoam peanuts and paper materials described above can be inconvenient to clean up and to dispose of.
To this end, a shipping device is needed which overcomes the before mentioned disadvantages of prior art packaging materials. It is to such a shipping device that the present invention is directed.
Broadly, the present invention is an inflatable shipping device for protecting at least one fragile item during shipment. The inflatable shipping device is provided with a housing defining a gas receiving cavity and being constructed of a flexible and substantially gas impermeable material. The housing has a flattened state when the gas receiving cavity is substantially free of gas and an expanded state when gas is introduced into the gas receiving cavity. The housing has a first side, an opposed second side, a first end, an opposed second end, and a flexible inner liner defining at least one item receiving chamber positioned between the first end and the second end.
The item receiving chamber communicates with the first side of the housing. The item receiving chamber is sized and dimensioned to receive at least a portion of the fragile item whereby when the housing is disposed in the expanded state and the fragile item is disposed within the chamber the housing encompasses at least a portion of the fragile item to protect the fragile item during shipment of the fragile item. The inflatable shipping device is also provided with an inflation assembly for introducing gas into the gas receiving cavity defined by the housing.
In one aspect, the housing of the inflatable shipping device includes at least two spatially disposed item receiving chambers with each of the item receiving chambers being disposed between the first end and the second end of the housing and both item receiving chambers communicating with the first side of the housing.
In another aspect, the flexible inner liner of the housing is automatically formable about various different shapes of fragile items to engage and closely follow the contours of each shape of fragile item when each fragile item is disposed in the item receiving chamber.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, the housing has a substantially helical shape in the expanded state so as to surround and thereby define an item receiving chamber sized and dimensioned to receive at least a portion of the fragile item whereby when the housing is disposed in the expanded state and the fragile item is disposed within the item receiving chamber the housing encompasses at least a portion of the fragile item to protect the fragile item during shipment of the fragile item.